Page 4 of Fern's Date with Destiny
He did.More than he could say without sounding like a sap.
She peeked at him sideways.“So.Since I know your brother and my sister are gaga over each other, it seems I should know this next bit.What about you?Are you seeing anyone special?”
The question was light, playful, but it hit a spot he hadn’t expected.Cody considered a moment before answering.
“Seeing someone.Kind of,” he admitted.“She’s out east.Long-distance thing.Not serious yet, but…we’ll see.”
He felt rather than saw the shift beside him.Fern’s energy didn’t dim so much as redirect, pivoting from playful flirt to something brighter and more purely friendly.She laughed lightly, flicking him a grin.
“Well then.Good for you, and good luck.If it’s meant to be, I’m sure all the distance in the world won’t keep you apart.Destiny doesn’t care about your GPS location.”
Cody chuckled despite himself.
They rode another hour through the soft rustle of grass and the hush of wind through pine trees.Fern talked about her sisters, her part-time jobs, and her recent graduation from tech design school.
He told her about the horses, the ranch, and was shocked to find himself mentioning the quiet weight of being the man everyone counted on, even if he didn’t say it quite like that.
He deliberately made sure to say nothing about the hollow spot that had been growing in his chest for months.The one her laugh and lilting voice filled, if only for a while.
When they made it back to the arena, Fern swung down on her own with a triumphant littlewhoop, landing lightly in the dust.
“Thanks for letting me steal your morning,” she said, patting Lonesome Charlie’s flank with a competent ease.“Not what either of us planned, huh?”
“Nope.”Cody tied off Buttercup and found himself smiling at her.Really smiling, no half-measures.“But I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Fern’s smile sparkled, wide and certain.“Told you.Destiny always knows what she’s doing.”
He didn’t argue.He didn’t dare.
Because maybe destiny really did know best.Which meant maybe he should be fool enough to trust her.
First, though, he had a lot of thinking to do.
2
Fern was too busy to ponder the strange sensation she’d experienced that morning out with Cody?—
Bullshit.
For the last five days she’d replayed every second of the trail ride so many times in her mind it felt like turning on a favourite movie she could quote line for line.His laugh teased her when she shut her eyes.The way the corner of his mouth tugged up when he was half amused, half baffled by her chatter?She knew it well enough to draw it.
Dangerous territory.
Luckily, Fern Fields was a woman who knew how to steer clear of temptation when necessary.
Well, most of the time.
Right now, she was piloting herself directly to the front door ofGabrielle’sgallery.She should be tucked in bed instead, but sleep wasn’t happening tonight.Not when she’d spent the last hour mentally retracing her final moments at the job and trying to remember if, in her distracted mental state, she’d shut down the very new, very expensive computer she’d been working on.
She’d sworn to Chance she’d lock everything down properly.She’d sworn to herself she’d be the best assistant the new family-run art space could ask for.It wasn’t just a paycheck.It was a chance to prove she could wear her organized, professional hat as easily as she wore her life-of-the-party one.
One more step toward wherever destiny nudged her next.
So here she was, on Thursday night just ten minutes shy of midnight, turning her borrowed key in the lock while the Alberta wind nudged her unruly curls across her eyes.
Inside, the gallery was half shadows and half moonlight, the walls lined with carefully hung paintings that made the empty quiet feel alive.She paused, soaking it in for a heartbeat.Even before ever having experienced the low buzz of visitors, a hallowed hush was present that felt as if it deserved respect.
She flicked on the small desk lamp by the front counter then padded down the hall toward the stairwell.Upstairs, she would double-check the computers.Maybe peek at the flyers she’d spent all week tweaking, just to be sure her traitorous brain hadn’t added any hint of her wandering thoughts to the pages.
